Sitting on the pier Soaking in the sun In the Swedish spring My time here is almost over So I'm relishing every last minute Goodbyes are hard but better than Not getting the chance to say them at all Snow once covered the pond But now the reflections of buildings Take over the water Only broken by rippling waves I wish I could stay longer But my time here Much like winter Is coming to an end Fare thee well

I long for yesterday's innocence As if it could save the human race From its self-destruction A world caught up in Fashion trends and fake news headlines As if the real issues in our world Take a back seat To blind consumerism Nothing can heal our scars Nor prevent the eventual collapse of our Self-constructed empires Then I look to the sky and wonder What does it all mean? Our own insignificance Drowned out by Likes and Instagram followers Was it ever worth it?

Where there was White snow and harsh winds There is now Newly grown forage and gray gravel It's still a reprise from the Demands of the world Only a short distance away Those demands still occupy my mind But now only the forest Occupies my eyes and Puts my mind at ease If only for a short while It's calm here Quiet and still The birds are my companions for now Maybe I am not their's But they are mine My body is still beneath the pines While my mind wanders the world A reprise nonetheless Here I am nobody Merely an observer passing through I'll forge through the forage To meet those demands again It's still a reprise

It really could be from a storybook This treasure tucked away From the city But itself part of the city Life is relaxing here Nowhere to rush off to No schedules to keep up with Only the natural landscape But surely it can't be natural There are paths, bikes, bridges, Hot dog stands, restaurants It's sculpted by the creator's Conception of nature We are dominant of our landscapes Always have been and Always will be

Everything is green again Renewed with life and vibrancy Winter's long, cold grasp Is but a distant memory Now the sun shines here for twenty hours a day There's a new energy In the wildlife and the people Living here The four hours of daylight only a few months ago Was well worth these precious moments of seemingly Everlasting light

There is a beauty To the bare winter It's not just the way The snow sticks to the trees Or the way it gently falls to the ground Everything is stripped to its core And left to bear the elements Of the winter winds Only to find a renewed awakening When spring comes Our lives are like the seasons Constantly changing and Adapting to our surroundings We are all in the midst of a winter Exposed to the elements and Stripped to our core Waiting for the arrival of our new spring

Subway wrappers Club crackers Future doctors and lawyers and Lifetime slackers Who are we all Faces and places in time People in the presence Of themselves and so many others Headphones Laptops Screens Everything to bring us together Yet drive us worlds apart The bittersweet taste of success A high GPA but who to impress A job A bank account All of these material possessions We use each other's Weaknesses as weapons And for what To have the Gravestone that says I WAS SUCCESSFUL All they left was An emotionless lust For possessions that They couldn’t take with them To their casket

Here I am Talking to the walls again The sounds reverberating back to my ear Only to disappear when they reach me We all want someone to hear us Someone to care about what we say So in the end we know We were worth something Whether the words are worthless Or more powerful than you could ever imagine You’ll never know if only The walls hear them Break down the wall And shout at the top of the mountain Until they know who you are And let them know your words are worth something

I stood over the cliff and gazed at the depths below me My heart skipped a few beats And my palms were sweaty I was afraid of the fall but I knew I would jump right into your arms and everything would be okay It would be the tranquil love I'd been looking for all along The fall is the hardest part because of the uncertainty Time has shown me both joy and sorrow My experiences eroded me into who I am and sometimes that terrifies me I know now that I can fall I know now that I can show my scars And my heart black and blue from bruises and heartbreak sings songs of escalating joy I can move past my pain and glare into your eyes and let everything melt away When I'm wrapped in your arms it feels like the world stops spinning Every preconceived notion of love I had before went out the window I guess I was afraid I would never find Someone who knew what it was like to hide behind a smile and pretend that everything was always fine Then you came along and I jumped off the cliff

Alone again with my thoughts in the woods The gold-leafed silence measured in ounces of reflection The only sounds piercing my ears are the winds whistling through the pines and the birds whistling atop them I'm surrounded by serenity a peaceful reprise from my quiries I shed my worries like the trees shed their needles and leave the both behind when I part